


The hope that you provide

by godbewithyouihavedone



Series: Hamilton Soulmate Mark AU [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-07 01:25:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5438363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godbewithyouihavedone/pseuds/godbewithyouihavedone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>When they went to bed, he did not have his wife's name, which made her sigh in relief.  She did not ask who "John" was, and he did not comment on the absence of a partner on her skin.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>More Hamilton soulmark!AU stories.  George Washington, Maria Reynolds, and Thomas Jefferson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The hope that you provide

**I.**

"That is a dear friend you do not have the pleasure of knowing yet," George's mother says. He has finally learned to read "Gilbert", written on his thigh. "Some men have their wives, some their brothers, or great companions."

"Maybe it's him," he says, poking his mother's swollen belly. "You should name him Gilbert."

"Only if he has George on his leg," she says, and pokes him right back.

He meets a little boy named Gilbert, a sunny blond. George plays with him in the creek sometimes. He's not supposed to tell that they're connected. Still, he worries, because George is a common name. Their king is George and other boys are as well. So Gilbert might not realize, and then what if they are never as close as they are supposed to be?

One day, Gilbert announces his family is moving north. Terrified, George rolls up his breeches and shows him the name. "You are my dearest friend, you cannot leave," he says.

"That's not me," Gilbert says, and shows him the "Sarah" across his upper arm.

George cries into his mother's skirts that night. She reassures him that he will meet the right Gilbert, or else the name would not be there.

When his father dies, George stops being able to even feel grief. Lawrence tries to cheer him up, Augustine brings him treats, and Samuel reads to him. But only one thing helps.

Sometimes, in the night, he'll sit up in bed and talk to Gilbert. He'll tell him, wherever he is, how hard it is not to have a father, and how much he still wants to make him proud. He'll tell him about how difficult tutoring can be sometimes. That he thinks he’ll join the Navy to go sailing, to be a great soldier. He can't wait for the day he talks to Gilbert and there's someone to answer back, someone to tell him about his life too.

**II.**

Maria married early, eager to have it contracted. Their wedding night proceeded without a single candle. In the light of the morning, she searched out the "Jacob" scrawled on his stomach. She dressed before he could wake. But she could not conceal her secret forever. By the time he knew she was born without a mark, she knew he was not as kind as he pretended, and both had been trapped.

She didn’t need a lack of name to tell her she was worthless, loveless, selfish. When he began to beat her, whaling on her flesh and screaming in her face, she reckoned it was her fault for lying.

Then he found another woman, leaving her destitute. A great man lived near. She knew what she could do to so-called great men. But Alexander Hamilton never raised a hand to her. He looked lonely, and he spoke so sweet and soft. When they went to bed, he did not have his wife's name, which made her sigh in relief. She did not ask who "John" was, and he did not comment on the absence of a partner on her skin.

Then her husband returned, only to sniff out money and threaten Alexander. Maybe she would have defended him, had they been true. But he only wanted someone who had not mothered his children, and she never allowed herself to fall in love.

She thought playing along with her husband's extraction scheme would sate his anger. He hadn't wanted her, Alexander had, and they had taken him. But even after Alexander leaves, the beatings grow worse. She is so scared, for herself and for Susan. Her husband does not let the law halt his desires. He may someday want her dead, not just hurting.

She knocks on Aaron Burr's door with her heart in her throat and bruises under her dress. He listens, and his expression grows dark as she tells the story.

"I have little money I can steal, for he is always poor," she says.

"We will procure you a divorce and settle the payment later," he says. "Your Susan will be safe, and you will no longer belong to him."

When all is done, and she has thanked Burr more times than she can count, she walks from the courtroom, finally free. Unmarked and alone, as she has always been, but this time, it is beautiful.

**III.**

Thomas Jefferson always hated that John Adams refuses to wear gloves. He knows John is not in the habit of hiding from anybody. Hell, that’s a rare thing to admire about the man.

John puts his hand on the Bible to be sworn in as president. But first, he raises it to the crowd, showing off the massive “Abigail” across the back of his palm.

Hers is on the inside of her hand, and when she waves, the crowd applauds. Some find their partnership disturbing. It is one thing to be in love with your wife, written on each other’s bodies. It is another to entrust her with your political future.

Thomas thinks he is a fool, but he remembers being foolish. Once, in Monticello, he had wandered with his sleeves pushed up, proud of the letters on his forearm. If not for them, he could never have mustered the courage to say a word to Martha. He would kiss each loop on her dainty arm before they went to bed, marveling at her beauty. Without proof, he’d never think he was worthy of her. They had undergone so much together. It was a reminder of what they would still conquer.

He had clutched her hand while she left this world, staring at his name up her skin while it turned waxy and cold. While he lived, he would love no other. He still dreamed about her, haunted their home like a ghost. Could barely stand to see their children, even as he cared for them.

Thomas burned her letters, destroyed her portraits. He refused to talk of her. But it was not enough. Every time he looked down, there was her handwriting. And again he remembered, and again he could not breathe for despair.

Finally, he took a knife to his arm, and since then the last of her is gone. It healed quite well. He was afraid it would again emerge, but there is only thin scars and blotchy new skin.

He stares at Adams, thinking to the next election. Thomas will have to use it to discredit him. A love is not a gauche trinket, and he knows the people are uncomfortable with Abigail’s power. Loyalty and privacy, that he can embody. Weakness, never again.


End file.
